Apple pie has always been a little bit of a seasonal question mark for me. It comes out at Thanksgiving, so that would suggest that it’s an autumnal food. But then it also comes out for summer potlucks, and that makes it…summer food? Instead of remaining confused, I’ve decided that apple pie is American, delicious, and year-round.
Slab pie is even better. That’s when you bake pie into a square or rectangular pan instead of a pie plate. Nothing is more satisfying than a lovely rectangular slab of apple pie. That is, of course, unless you up the ante. This apple slab pie is covered in Hannah Max oatmeal raisin cookie chips crumble, and it’s impossible to stop eating.
When my son saw me opening a cookie chips bag this morning, his eyes lit up. “Oatmeal raisin? Yay, my favorite!” No, I still don’t understand how this child is related to me. I head straight for the chocolate chip. But while he was busy surreptitiously pulling cookie chips out of the bag as I baked and pretended not to notice, I grabbed a couple too. I’m not normally an oatmeal raisin girl, but these? I can make an exception for these.
The thing is, I’m not sure we ever truly know ourselves. That applies to food preferences, which change over time, and just who we are in general, which changes even more. I used to be all about striving for perfection and being invincible. I thought those were characteristics that a modern woman should have.
Turns out, life and time along with motherhood have been pretty big game-changers. Not only do I no longer want to be perfect, but I think it’s actually a flaw to strive for flawlessness. Good enough is, well, good enough. I say that a lot. And perfect sure is boring. As for being invincible, well, that’s just stupid. We shouldn’t walk around being super vulnerable all the time, sure. But when did seeming completely imperturbable become the thing to do? It can be stronger to show our human side sometimes.
Like, I epic fail in baking. A lot. And these photos were hard to take. So there. I just shared.
Luckily, the recipe today was not an epic fail at all. While I’m not usually the biggest apple pie girl, I could not stop eating this. The bottom crust is made from my five-minute, no equipment needed pie dough. It’s easy and amazing. The middle is apple pie filling. Nope, I’m not going to stand around peeling and slicing in summer. There’s a beach chair outside with my name on it, and life is short. The top is a simple crumble made up of broken oatmeal raisin cookie chips, butter and sugar. That’s it.
Inside of half an hour, the best apple slab pie ever will be in front of you, begging for vanilla ice cream on top. But it’s pretty dang good plain, too. Besides, even though I wasn’t expecting this to be a dessert I ate way too much of, life is fun like that. We might change over time, but that’s a good thing. Our tastes change and so do our expectations of ourselves, and both bring us closer and closer to the elusive question of who, deep down, we really are.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar, salt and vanilla until blended. Add the flour gradually and mix until a dough forms. If the dough is too soft, let it sit for a few minutes
- Press the dough into the prepared pan, working it evenly along the bottom and a little bit up the sides. Prick the bottom with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes until firm and slightly puffy.
- Remove the pan from the oven and spread the apple pie filling evenly over the top.
- In a bowl, crumble broken pieces of the oatmeal raisin cookie chips with the cold butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. When all is combined into a coarse crumb texture, spread the topping onto the apple pie filling.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature, but do not chill.